NEW YORK (Reuters) - Top U.S. phone company AT&T Inc <T.N>
said on Monday it plans to end its dwindling pay phone business
by the end of 2008, as more consumers use mobile phones.

The move affects AT&T pay phones in the company's previous
13-state service area, including California and Texas.
BellSouth Corp, which AT&T acquired late last year, has already
exited the pay phone business in its nine-state service area.

Pay phones in the United States have declined across the
industry from about 2.6 million phones in 1998 to an estimated
1 million phones today, AT&T said.

The use of pay phones has been declining in much of the
developed world due to the popularity of mobile phones. But
some complain that ending pay phone service restricts
low-income, low-credit consumers' access to communications.

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AT&T has grown its profit in recent years, as strong sales
from its mobile phone and Internet business make up for a fall
in traditional phone use.